| Here's some feedback/impressions of the classes from my buddy who is in General and has played most of the classes (and a few 80s):
Level 80 took 6-7 days played during beta period. This also factored in a slight % xp increase that all beta players had, so it should take longer. But, Collector's Edition purchasers get that +10% xp ring or whatever, and there is a rested xp system in place, as well as chain kills for even more. So if you're good, you can level fast.
Level 80 classes are decently balanced in PvP, but it mostly seems that way because people aren't good at their class.
Assassin's suck. I really wanted to be one, but they are NOT powerful enough right now. This might change in one patch, however they're really underpowered right now. Stealth still sucks, it's either too easy for an enemy to see you, or impossible for them to see you, they haven't found that medium ground yet. Assassin's still do more damage just by shooting their crossbow than they do using combos... Maybe 70% complete.
Barbarians are beastly. They have sick AoE damage and great player killing ability. Stack them together and the more barbarians that are in a group, the more powerful all the other barbarians become. Imagine a MS warrior with a passive permanent bestial wrath buff that becomes more effective as more MS warriors join the group. That's what a Barbarian is like. It's 90% complete, just some balancing issues left.
Bear Shamans are meh. I'm undecided about them because they keep getting changed. They used to be REALLY powerful melee fighters, then they got more powerful heals, then they became buff bots that couldn't do much damage and had a hard time leveling. In the recent patch this Saturday, they changed Bear Shamans a LOT so I have yet to hear impressions on them. Bear shaman is another class waiting for balance issues, but it's still REALLY fun to play. 90% complete.
Conquerors are decent. Conquerors seem to be neglected by the AoC community. They're not boring, but they're not spectacular. I think Conqueror's need a lot more work to make them more appealing and so you don't feel like you're just playing a dual-wielding Guardian. 70% I'd say.
Dark Templars are badass. Definetely have gotten some love from developers. They're still REALLY overpowered for AoE tanking ability. Imagine a prot paladin, but all the holy damage that the prot pally is doing is doing 350% lifesteal and they never go below 99% health. Ever. Dark Templar's lifesteal abilities are really overpowered and stack together. I'm sure this will get nerfed before release. 95% done methinks.
Demonologists are a combination of a Destro Warlock and Fire Mages. They do sick fire and shadow spells, get one pet, and burn some sick dps. Demonologists are one of the most done classes in the game. 95% done.
Guardians are complicated. With the combination of active defense directions, dodging blows, and pressing a button to block, and pulling off combos to keep aggro, tanking in AoC is going to be REALLY difficult to do well. Guardians are the most balanced class to be at the moment and are very complete and fun to play. 99% complete.
Herald of Xotli is cool, I guess. Not too much experience with these guys. I hear great things, but at the same time I hear huge bugs. I get the feeling that Funcom is still deciding whether to make HoX's primarily spellcasters or just melee brawlers similar to the mechanics of a barbarian. I'm not going to judge this class at the time other than to say it looks really fun to play.
Necromancers make me cream. Necro's have been overpowered since the beginning of beta. They've just been dealing with balance issues. Necros have been disgustingly good casters with a rediculous amount of spells, buffs, and debuffs, then on top of that, they have 8 pets out... AT ONCE. So they buffed the worthless pet's dps in the recent patch as well as changed the look of the beginner ones like I screenshotted. The Frost Beast is a nice unique caster finishing move that the Necro's get. It doesn't have a time limit at the moment, but it does go away if you zone in somewhere. Necros are 90% complete. Some serious issues with a new global cooldown that's only for Necros and some cast speed times that need to be revised. Other than that, they've balanced out the DPS capablity of Necros.
Priest of Mitra are incomplete. PoM's are one of the least done classes in AoC. They're trying to make them the primary healing class, but also capable of holding their own in soloing for some dps capability. Healing in Age of Conan is a really big problem right now because the heals they cast just don't give enough health per second for the amount of damage that tanks are taking. But, I have a feeling this is getting fixed with the help of the dedicated beta raiding team that has been giving them constant feedback about healing. 50% complete. Talents need some revisioning and skills need to be changed to better balance healing with damage.
Rangers are OP. Yet another overpowered class. If it's between the ranged AoE damage that rangers do, or the piercing damage, they're too powerful. Rangers can burn down any group in seconds. It's a joke. This might be more balanced now, but it was nuts when I was 80. One guy took a group of four of us down in 3 seconds. But they ARE really fun to play. 80% complete.
And last but definitely not least, Tempest of Set. Tempest of Set was a combination of Druids of the Storm, Scion of Set, and some other mage class that I could care less about. They're an elemental shammy on crack with a side binge of caffeine. These guys are nasty at level 80 and have tons of AoE spells and single target nukes. Really fun class to play, and definetely one of the more complete ones. 90%.
Discuss away.... |